


Lunge, Parry, Riposte!

by Ngyes



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drama & Romance, Fantasizing, Fencing, Frenemies, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, Romantic Comedy, Slow Build, Slut Shaming, Spoilers, Sylvain is a hoe, Wet Dream, but only towards Sylvain, i cant write porn sorry, linhardt is a stoner, possible soft smut?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2020-08-11 14:49:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20155357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ngyes/pseuds/Ngyes
Summary: There’s a nerve-wracking silence as Felix makes up his mind, the decision that could save or end Sylvain’s whole life. And then, there’s a gift of salvation from the goddess Sothis herself as Felix huffs. “ Hmph, fine. We have a deal, manwhore. You’re lucky I’m swayed by a free meal.”“You sure it’s not my sexy voice instead of the meal?” Sylvain says with a teasing lilt.“Don’t make me take it back...god you’re fucking annoying.” Felix hisses angrily into the phone.“Kidding, kidding!” Sylvain tries not to ruin the chance he’s been given.





	1. Lunge

**Author's Note:**

> First fic! I really love Felix and Sylvain's dynamic, so I figured I'd give it a go! Sylvain is a literal bastard sometimes tbh, but I think he matches certain characters well and they help him mature. Please note that this is the raw draft. I'd really appreciate any feedback people can give! :) Thanks.

A breeze blows through lacy translucent curtains in a girl’s dorm room in the evening. Currently, said room smells of sweat and, to put it bluntly, fucking sex. There are two bodies in the bed, intertwined underneath covers. A man with fiery red hair, and a woman with soft features. There’s a sound that disturbs their sleep on the nightstand. Groaning, the man shuffles out of bed and opens golden eyes to a vibrating phone.  
With a sigh, he checks a glaring screen to see what the fuss is about. It’s a message, “sent at 4:30 pm”, that reads, “Practice is about to start, Manwhore. -Felix. '' Much to his dismay, it’s that moment when he realizes something crucial. That “something” is the fact that he’s *fucked*, not how he prefers, and not how he fucked this girl last night. Out of all the days to have a one night stand with a cute girl, it had to be on a day where he had fencing practice. If his dad finds out *this* is why he didn’t attend… Fucked wouldn’t begin to cover it, he would be KILLED. Normally, in this situation, he would call Ingrid, but she’s too pissed off at his bullshit to bail him out this time. So he does all he can think to do, beg his roommate and childhood friend for mercy like he’s phoning a friend on a game show.  
  
After struggling to get his clothes on, he rushes out the door. Somehow, the woman he was in bed with slept all through the chaos. He can’t even remember her name for the life of him, but she had a sweet pair of tits, and a nice ass, that’s for sure. He figures he can apologize to her later or something, or just completely avoid her. The latter sounds the best and easiest, so that’s his plan of action. It’s usually what he does after a fling. He just wanted a quick fuck anyway and she only wanted him for his body and financial status. That’s beside the point now.  
  
He hops into his black BMW 5 Series Sedan with urgency and puts the key in the ignition. As the car starts, he takes out his phone to call Felix. He’s nervous. Felix may happen to be his childhood friend, but that doesn’t mean he will readily comply or help him through his near-constant selfish whims. The phone rings a little and he’s thinking he’s missed him, that he’s already left, or knowing Felix, ignoring his calls on purpose. He knows they aren’t as close as they used to be. As the ringing continues, his heart sinks, when suddenly there’s a click.  
  
“You’re late, Sylvain. Dimitri won’t stop yapping in my ear thanks to you…and that’s excluding Ingrid because we’re in the lockers.” Felix sighs on the line. In the background, a faint “Is that Sylvain? Where is he?!” can be heard, no doubt Dimitri shouting across the room.  
  
“ I know, I know.” Sylvain laughs sheepishly. “ I’m sorry uh...I’m running a little late at the moment but can you cover for me dude?”  
  
“Why should I? It’s not my problem. You were probably having sex...Again.” If it were possible to hear eye rolls, he’s sure Felix made one just now.  
  
“I was, actually, just woke up a little late after. Haha. You’ll help me, right?” Sylvain is praying. He’s praying because if he knows anything, Felix doesn’t give much of a fuck about being merciful to anyone, even if you’re his best friend. The guy even hates his father.  
  
“I’d pick your words wisely. I’m going to hang up” he chides.  
  
“Wait! Felix, wait, fuck… Okay, look. If you cover for me, I’ll do all the cleaning in the dorm all this week, and take you out to eat, yeah? We’ll go to that hipster place you like with the spicy food. I’ll even smuggle you some booze.” He lets out with haste.  
  
There’s a nerve-wracking silence as Felix makes up his mind, the decision that could save, or end Sylvain’s whole life. And then, there’s a gift of salvation from the goddess Sothis herself as Felix huffs. “ Hmph, fine. We have a deal, manwhore. You’re lucky I’m swayed by a free meal.”  
  
“You sure it’s not my sexy voice instead of the meal?” Sylvain says with a teasing lilt.  
  
“Don’t make me take it back...god you’re fucking annoying.” Felix hisses angrily into the phone.  
  
“Kidding, kidding!” Sylvain tries not to ruin the chance he’s been given. “ Anyway, I’ll be at the training center in about 15 to 20 minutes, give or take...I still have to grab my fencing stuff at home, clean some jizz off, brush my teeth, piss-”  
  
Felix cuts him off immediately, “Yeah, I get it, please shut up... I’ll just tell them you’re not feeling too well and that you’ll be on your way.”  
  
“Right...I’ll see you at practice...And Felix?”  
  
“What is it? Make it quick.” He grumbles.  
  
“Thanks.” There’s no reply as the click of the phone is heard and it goes back to the home screen. Felix is complicated and always has been as long as Sylvain could remember. However, he’s thankful the other male granted him this opportunity. He really would have been dead if he didn’t agree to help.  
  
After getting off the phone with Sylvain, Felix is still getting changed for fencing practice. He pulls an Under Armor shirt over his thin frame and groans. Why did he agree to help that manwhore? Sylvain might be his childhood friend, but he’s insufferable is what he thinks to himself. He runs a hand through mid-length navy hair before tying it. He doesn’t even have to look over to know who’s briskly walking towards him. It’s Dimitri, another childhood friend, and captain of the fencing team. His blue eyes narrow toward him. “Were you calling Sylvain just now? We’re about to practice footwork and blade work.” The blonde male inquires with a stern tone. Felix thought the least of his troubles were over. Unfortunately, they’re nowhere close to over now. What a pain. This is why he prefers to be alone.  
  
“Yeah, he said he’s not feeling well so he’ll be here soon. Woke up with a bit of a cold, but nothing big.” Felix stares at Dimitri after his response. They share a silent stare for a few moments, and Felix knows why. They both know why. It’s Dimitri’s voice that breaks the steeled atmosphere.  
  
“We both know that’s far from the truth. You’re not the only person who’s known him since childhood. Even then, most of us, if not the whole university knows how he gets around and barely shows up for classes.” He taps the side of his hips, a nervous habit.  
  
“You’re chastising the wrong guy, Dimitri. Go pester him about it.” Felix turns to put his stuff away into his locker.  
  
“What do you mean? You just encouraged his behavior and let him get away with it!” Dimitri rubs his temple. “I’m trying to be a good captain, and how can I do that when you all don’t organize yourselves properly no matter what I tell you?”  
  
“He offered a free meal, I took it. It’s not my problem, you boar.” Felix snorts. “You only care so much because Byleth is watching and you want to impress her as always.” Felix knows how Dimitri feels about their instructor, Byleth, and that must have done it for him to come undone. Dimitri goes completely red to his ears, bingo. Whether it was because of anger, shame, or embarrassment, Felix isn’t quite sure. He always knows how to get that boar to show his true colors.  
  
In a hushed tone, Dimitri retorts, “Boar…? Look, Felix, don’t bring Byleth into this. I hope your “free meal” gets him here and doesn’t stress her out. I’m leaving to get started early and cool myself down. Don’t humor him anymore or I’ll have no choice but to let the instructor know.” With that, he turns his head and promptly leaves the locker room.  
  
“What a teacher’s pet, no wonder he’s captain.” Felix thinks to himself and rolls his eyes. He notices Dimitri’s “dog”, Dedue, a large and muscular man with tan skin, green eyes, and white hair following right after Dimitri as usual. A dog and a boar, how fitting. At the moment, Felix can’t be bothered to even confront Dedue about “following his master”, as he normally does. Already tired after the spat with Dimitri, Felix checks his phone. It’s already 4:38 pm. Sylvain had better hurry up because he might be going down with him at this rate. He shoots another text “You’d better get here, asshole. Dimitri wants both of our heads now, and I haven’t even seen Ingrid yet.  
  
It takes Sylvain a minute or two to arrive at the suite-style dorm building on Garreg Mach University’s campus. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, but he can’t check it now due to more pressing matters. For example, not dying by the hands of his childhood friends and teammates, Ingrid and Dimitri would count as pressing matters. He runs inside towards the stairs instead of the elevator. He’s thankful he lives on the first floor and shuffles with his ID card to get inside.  
  
Scanning the living room, it looks like his other roommate, Caspar, isn’t home. Thank the goddess, Sothis. The guy’s obnoxiously loud, and even louder when he and Ashe are having sex or doing anything at all together. This is mostly due to the fact they argue like hell. Sylvain is also a bit bothered Caspar left the living room a mess with gaming equipment, comic books, boxing gloves, and bags of chips around, but that’s a discussion he’ll have with him later. Checking his phone now, it’s 4:42 pm, so he needs to hurry.  
  
Seeing as he was late, Sylvain decides to take a quick shower, change into his gear at home, and drive with it on to save time. He’ll change back into whatever he has on now after practice. To him, it doesn’t matter how dingy-looking his outfit is right now. It’s not like he has classes after this anyway, and he’ll be too tired after today for another date or fling. He throws his fencing jacket, mask, gloves, plastron, and saber into his black Nike sports bag. He heads out the door at a hurried pace. Finally wearing proper clothing suited for practice on his muscular and pale body, he rushes towards the car. He turns the key and heads for the Fencing center a few minutes from the college where they practice. He hopes Felix didn’t change his mind about helping him out.


	2. Right-of-Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Right of way: “right-of-way” governs situations in which both fencers register hits  
Sylvain finally makes it to fencing practice. "It's all good now, right?", is what you'd like to think. In reality, he's barely out of the woods. It's worse than that. Felix turns down his invitation to take him out to eat for cooperating with him and a possible chance to get closer to him. Sylvain can't help but wonder, "Why?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the hard part! Heh. First time writing the fencing, and I hope I explained it in a way that wasn't too boring for anyone not familiar with it. I kinda had Britannica help me out here a little lol. Funny how gay fiction has inspired me to want to try the sport myself now. kek

Sylvain parks the car and enters the door of the gym. It’s 5:00, so he’s only 15 minutes late for practice. The front of it is all glass, so one can easily see inside. It’s a large white room that has a desk with a trophy case next to it near the door, blue turf flooring with white piste rectangles to have matches in, and a weight area in the back. The walls have various blades, certifications, helmets, and shield emblems decorating them. There are 4 shields up there at the moment, one is a red shield with a black eagle, a blue shield with a lion, a yellow shield with a deer, and a white shield with a dragon. Each shield represents a fencing team that’s hosted in this building. Sylvain finds himself staring at them. In the midst of admiration, he feels the music, Mila’s Divine Protection echoing through the gym. A few seconds pass, and he realizes what he’s supposed to be doing. He becomes uncharacteristically bashful, unable to pretend he’s cool in this situation. It doesn’t help that he didn’t have time to style his hair as well as he normally does. Putting a hand behind his head, he laughs slightly. “Sorry I’m late, wasn’t feeling too hot. I’m all good now though.”  
  
Before he can even put his bag away, a girl with short, blonde hair and blue eyes bounds over to him. She’s making somewhat of a fuss over his arrival. It’s the team’s manager, Mercedes. “I heard you weren’t feeling well earlier, Sylvain. Are you sure you don’t need to rest a little? You should have stayed home.” There’s concern etched in her features.  
  
This makes Sylvain feel mildly guilty that he wasn’t sick, but he can’t say he doesn’t like the attention from her. Giving the woman a once-over, he definitely likes the view. She’s wearing a white shirt, so he can see her peach lacy bra shyly peeking underneath, pink shorts hugging her creamy thighs. Mercedes was definitely blessed in the chest, if not everywhere, and she usually dresses so conservatively too. It’s such a contrast that It’s turning him on a little, fuck. One would think after just having sex not too long ago and the trouble it’s caused, his hunger for carnage would be satiated. Sadly, that’s impossible for Sylvain. He quickly focuses on her face instead to deter himself from saying something stupid, but it doesn’t help that she’s undeniably cute there too. “I’m fine, Mercedes, really. You don’t have to worry about a thing, sweetheart.” He knows it’s not the best time to slip in some flirting or check a girl out, but he can’t help himself. He’d be lying if he said flirting wasn’t a nervous habit of his.  
  
In his peripheral, he can already see reactions. Dimitri is grimacing, Dedue observes silently, Ashe and Annette share worried glances toward one another, Felix didn’t even care enough to stop stretching or acknowledge he’s there, Byleth simply tilts her head in confusion, and Ingrid is clenching her fists. Oh shit... He should really try to tread carefully, he surmises. Ingrid hasn’t yelled at him yet, due to the fact that she yelled at him last week in front of the class for a similar situation, but that doesn’t mean she won’t. He’s more aware of that than anyone, knowing her since they were children. She REALLY cares about integrity, etiquette, and tact. Ashe does too, but he doesn’t know Sylvain as well and is less keen on ragging down on someone in public. He prefers discussing issues in a comfortable manner if possible, but Ingrid will definitely chew you out if you’re out of line. To say Sylvain is scared off his ass currently is an understatement. He can’t go through having his “MILF” fetish revealed to his classmates again. The first time was more than enough. Even Claude, Dorothea, and Hilda caught wind of it. They wouldn’t shut up about it for a whole damn month. Claude still calls him “Mama’s Boy” any moment he can. He can only wait for Mercedes reply now.  
  
It seems like his flirting attempt goes over Mercedes’ head, or she simply ignored it. It’s probably the second. Either way, Sylvain is thankful. “Well, if you ever feel you’re too tired to continue, let us know and have a seat! You can even go back home if you’d like. Byleth said it was ok.” She gently smiles at him and gingerly strides toward the middle of the gym, setting up the virtual score machine for the bouts later. She’s so graceful. Something about her kindness always made him feel guilty or uncomfortable as if a terrible person such as himself didn’t deserve it. Genuine kindness always made him feel odd since he’s so used to people being kind to him for ulterior motives.  
  
It’s then Byleth speaks, her expression neutral with a soft tone as usual. “Since you’re here Sylvain, you can put your bag away in the lockers, and take your place next to Felix in the back. We were just stretching a few minutes before we start practicing our footwork.”  
“Right, thanks, Maestro.”  
  
“There’s no need to call me that, Sylvain. Just Byleth or Teacher is fine.”  
  
“I’ll call you whatever you like, Byleth.” He winks. There’s a hint of a purr in his voice that he’s far too accustomed to using and he doesn’t dare look at Dimitri. Byleth just tilted her head in acknowledgment as a response. He’s well aware at this point that he fucked up by using that tone with Byleth, or even attempted to tease her. He can feel Dimitri’s seething stare follow him as he promptly goes put his bag away. "Not my best idea", he thinks to himself. The two people he specifically didn’t want to piss off today are probably very pissed off now. Sweet.  
  
He puts his bag down on an empty space on one of the benches and exits back into the gym area where everyone is still stretching. He places himself next to Felix and begins to stretch. He starts with a forward lunge. Somehow, Sylvain thinks this is a great time to try and engage with Felix so he says, “Hey.” There’s no response. Instead of shutting his mouth, he opens it again. “Thanks for helping me out man, really appreciate it.” He’s met with more silence from Felix. He feels a twinge of hurt from being ignored.  
  
Before he tries once more, Felix stops him. “I can hear you, Moron. We can talk later during break. I can’t focus on stretching when you’re talking. You already thanked me once.”  
  
“You’re right, sorry.” He chuckles to hide his discomfort. “ I’ll just focus on stretching too.”  
  
“Sure, whatever.” He snorts.  
  
He really shouldn’t have expected Felix to be enthralled to speak with him after the hell he’s put him through. And he knows Felix has never been much of a talker. At one point, he was talkative with him, back when they were kids. Somehow, he’s sad that has changed between them.  
  
They continue to stretch for a few more moments in silence, with music blaring in the background. Sylvain steals a glance at Felix and finds it interesting how despite training so much, his frame is so thin and small with lean muscle. Sylvain admits to himself that his frame is perfect for sword-fighting. He notices that Felix has two eyebrow slits on his left eyebrow. Personally, he could never wrap his head around why people did it or found it alluring, but it does look good on Felix. He’s always been shorter than Sylvain, and it seems that hasn’t changed. He’s about 5’7”, only a little shorter than average. He has a sharp jawline, thin lips, a small nose, and tired eyes that have stunning amber irises. He has mid-length navy hair that’s currently tied back and combed over to the side, a few stray strands unable to stay in place. Felix’s hair has always been a little messy, even when he was little. Sylvain thought it was kind of cute. But now, he had a somewhat edgier look to him and it suits him. It could be because they’re stretching, but he’s noticing that for a guy, Felix has a nice ass. These are thoughts he should not be having about a male childhood friend, especially as a straight man, but he’s having them anyway. His mouth starts to feel dry. He’s even more confused because he just fucked that one girl in his acting class, like what, a few hours ago? In order to stop himself, he swiftly looks ahead and continues to focus on Byleth’s instruction in front. He’s sure looking at her tits will somehow usher these weird thoughts away.  
  
Unbeknownst to Sylvain, Felix is also stealing curious glances himself. He is a little pissed off at him, but he still finds himself looking. Most of the time in their daily lives, they didn’t interact enough for him to admire the other like this. Sylvain may be an annoying manwhore that he associates with due to their childhood, but that didn’t mean his body didn’t look good. Felix was bicurious for some time now. To him, a hot bod was a fuckin hot bod, even if its owner was a prick. Sylvain’s hair isn’t styled like it usually is, due to being late, so his hair is only combed and lightly gelled. On a normal day, his red locks are parted to the sides in the front and more like a pompadour towards the sides and back. It’s very captivating. He has the ideal oval face shape, somewhat broad shoulders, a decent amount of muscle tone and yet still somewhat on the thinner side, a Roman nose, and light brown eyes. He’s even pretty tall, standing at 6’1”. That’s above average, and it makes Felix a tad envious. But, It makes sense Sylvain’s a model. He always looked a little wild. It was something Felix admired a lot as a child. But right now, that admiration was a little different. He was finding it attractive, finding Sylvain attractive. It freaked him out. So with furrowed brows, Felix started to focus on his stretching again.  
  
Sylvain sees a disgruntled expression on Felix’s face. He’s worried he may have pissed him off somehow, but he can’t really do anything about it. He really just wants this part to be over. He just spent a solid few minutes looking at another dude stretching as he looks at girls, a dude he knows personally. After a few more long minutes pass, it seems as though the goddess actually heeded his prayers, awesome. The clock reads 5:30 and Byleth instructs everyone to move onto the footwork and blade work. These were drills Sylvain personally enjoyed. They didn’t require too much of him. He would place his foot forward a few times with his heel and arm out, then retreat back to simulate the movements made during a bout. One would repeat these motions with some variation and later move towards using your blades along with the motions. It was simple and it was easy, just how he likes things. However, looking next to him, Felix looked bored out of his mind. Despite that, his movements were much crisper and fluid compared to his own. Felix has always loved sword fighting, and they have practiced fencing together since childhood. Just as now, Felix would be bored with footwork, blade work, and weightlifting. He just loved a good fight and still does to this day. They continue the drills until a break is called at 6:00 pm for 10 minutes. That’s when Felix approaches him.  
  
“Wow, I’d believe if you said you were sick. You look like shit.” He has a smug look on his face.  
  
“Ouch! Some girls like the just rolled out of bed look, especially on me.” Sylvain runs a hand through his hair.  
  
“Uhuh? Right. What a ladies’ man.” Felix replies, his tone sardonic.  
  
Sylvain spies a bit of a smirk on his face and it makes him chortle with laughter. This feels like something reminiscent of their middle school days.  
Felix quirks a brow. “What’s so funny?”  
  
Sylvain shrugs and grins. “Dunno, it just made me think of the past.”  
  
“Really?” Felix leans back against the gym wall, looking relaxed.  
  
“Yeah” Sylvain joins him against the wall and they sit in silence for a while, Felix phishing out his phone from his small gym bag. He didn’t mean to encroach on the other male’s privacy, but he was so close. He peered at the screen as discreetly as he could and noticed he was talking to Claude on his discord instant messages. It looks like he’s in a group with Linhardt, Hubert, and Claude. What the hell? He’s friends with them? Claude and Hubert especially make him feel uneasy. It appears Sylvain isn’t too discreet after all because Felix catches him.  
  
“Seiros, you’re nosy.” He finishes sending the message and puts his phone away. “ Don’t you have one of your girlfriends to talk to?”  
  
Sylvain looks up at the gym ceiling to think about his response, his face is indifferent. Felix makes a good point, but he really isn’t in the mood to engage with women personally after this morning. Despite how much lying he’s used to, he decides maybe it’d be easier to just be honest about how he feels. After a few seconds pass, he gives Felix a blinding smile. “I might, but I’m not in the mood for talking to girlfriends right now. I’d rather be with you.”  
  
He might be seeing things, but it looks like Felix could be slightly abashed. “Whatever. Break’s almost over. I’m getting a drink.” And with that, he watches him walk toward the water fountain. It’s not until then that Sylvain realizes he should have asked Felix if he wanted to get his meal tonight. Dammit. He’ll have to ask him after practice now.  
  
After the break, everyone changes into their fencing gear. Byleth decides the bouts for today, and oh boy, Sylvain is not happy about who he was paired with. It’s Dimitri. And after Sylvain’s stunt earlier, he can’t say Dimitri will go easy on him. He doesn’t go easy on you even if you don’t piss him off. There’s a reason Felix refers to him as a boar. He is very kind and gentle on most occasions, but if you anger him or he has a blade in hand, he becomes a beast. It’s honestly horrifying.  
  
Byleth acts as the referee and signals for the two to stand on the piste or playing space in front of them on the Engarde Lines, about 13 feet from the center. A piste is usually about 5 feet wide and 46 long, with an extra 4.9 feet towards the end. It’s marked with a centerline, en-garde lines, warning lines, and rear limit lines. At either end, there’s a spool, or reel, which has 66 feet of cable. Fencers attach their bod cord to a spool at the end. It retracts and extends as they move up and down it. The spools are attached to the scoring box, which will light up and make noise when a hit is registered through electrical currents in the piste and wires placed in their sword, mask, and lamé (jacket). This is how points are earned.  
  
The virtual scoring machine is on and projected onto a pull-down projection screen towards the front of the gym. Mercedes had set it up for them with Dimitri’s name on right, and Sylvain’s on left with the score number below respectively, a timer in the middle, and below that a symbol to tell which period they were in. Sabre fencing only has two. Whoever touches their opponent first with the sabre blade will be who makes a point, or “right of way”.  
  
With his mask on, it’s hard to see Dimitri’s expression. But what he can make out, is his piercing blue eyes. Sylvain has seen this look a million times in his youth with him. It’s the look he has before he takes his “prey” down. And it’s even more intense today because of his being late, and flirting with Byleth. Part of him wonders if Byleth did it on purpose. Sylvain knows Felix will have a goddamn field day and he will come out with bruises. He always did as a child after bouts with him.  
  
Byleth stands on the side opposite to the virtual scoring machine. After combing through her seafoam colored hair, she’s silent for a moment. Her cyan eyes cold, and calculating. She calmly states the rules. “Just as any typical sabre bout, the only valid areas are the torso, head, or arm. We’ll score on the first fencer to reach 8 points. Then, we’ll take a break and the winner is the first to get to 15.” Sylvain is starting to feel nervous now, even if it’s just practice. Byleth looks between Sylvain and Dimitri and declares, “En-Garde!” Out of respect, before a bout or lesson, fencers must salute to one another with their blades before going onto their En-garde, or start position. Dimitri and Sylvain take their sabres and salute to each other accordingly, before moving into their En-garde position. The two men start by having their arms outward, bring the blade down, then up in front of their mask, and down again. After this, they transition to stand with one leg slightly forward and knee bent, and sword in their hands.  
  
“Ready?” Byleth signals. Dimitri and Sylvain look silently between each other, and nod. “Fence!” she exclaims.  
  
As usual, Sylvain is far too reckless and hasty to attack. He lunges, attempting to go for Dimitri’s chest. However, Dimitri anticipated for this and retreats with a parry before lunging himself and catching Sylvain off guard, touching the blade on his shoulder with a clang of metal. It makes him flinch. The virtual scoring machine makes a beeping noise with the right side going off to signify Dimitri’s point. Damn… He’s always known Dimitri to hit hard. He can feel a burning pain in his shoulder already. There will no doubt be a bruise there. Sylvain decides he has to be more careful this time, and take the defensive instead. They move back to the En-garde point on the piste for another round and raise their blades.  
  
This time around, Sylvain is going to start on the defensive. They raise blades, and Dimitri charges first. Sylvain retreats and lunges toward Dimitri, blade extended. As a response, Dimitri retreats, and as he makes his counter, Sylvain goes for another lunge. The virtual scoring machine lights up on both of their sides. This is quite perplexing, and the rest of the class looks between one another in confusion. Byleth asks Mercedes to review the footage, and it’s revealed that Sylvain had landed a blow on Dimitri’s arm first and finished his sequence before Dimitri finished his. This gives Sylvain the point. He smiles smugly underneath his mask, thinking this meant he had a chance, a chance against the beast. However, this isn’t so.  
  
The scoring machine currently reads that Sylvain has only 1 point, and Dimitri has 13. This is for the last point. Sylvain wants to give up, but he’s come this far. He can’t just give up now. Sweating and tense, the men raise their blades for the last time and lunge for each other, blades dancing together. Sylvain grits his teeth and retreats, attempting to bait Dimitri. This causes Dimitri to lunge, and Sylvain retreats again. He’s nervous because he knows he’ll have to attack soon. If he retreats any more, he’ll reach the limit line, and give Dimitri the point by default. He lunges for him, and assumes he has the win in the bag! But of course, the team captain already seals his fate by retreating and having his blade touch him on the chest, awarding him the last point. Dimitri wins the bout and was ruthless in doing so.  
  
As always, when a bout ends, the participants salute and shake hands. Sylvain can admit he did a shitty job. He really should have gone home. He’s taken out of his stupor by the sound of the instructor’s voice. “Good job you two.” Byleth compliments. “However, Sylvain, you can’t be so reckless. I understand that you don’t feel well, but your form was very sloppy. It would do you some good to practice outside of the class, and please try not to be late.” Sylvain feels a little ashamed of himself.  
  
Next, she turns to Dimitri, “You did very well, team captain. Your form was excellent. But, you were too rough. I can tell you caused injuries to Sylvain already. Just because you have the strength, doesn’t mean you exploit it and go with wild abandon.” He’s more than sure that Dimitri is blushing from shame underneath his own mask. Both men take off their masks. They're drenched in sweat.  
  
Dimitri looks quite skittish, different from when he was destroying Sylvain on the Piste moments ago. And it appears he was right about Dimitri having a bit of a flush on his face. He clears his throat before speaking. “Sylvain, I’m sorry if I was too hard on you. I can’t tell how strong I am sometimes.”  
“It’s no worries at all, Dimitri. I’ve known you for how long now? I just need to practice more.” While he does say that, he grimaces at the bruises he can feel aching all over his body, just as predicted.  
  
“As long as you’re alright. Maybe this will inspire you to practice more.” He chuckles.  
  
“Oh man, definitely” Sylvain laughs a little himself.  
  
With that, Byleth dismisses the class. Before Sylvain can reach the locker room, it’s Ingrid that pulls him aside. Her green eyes give an intense stare, and her golden hair shines under the light of the gym. “I know you were late because of a fling. But really, making Felix cover for you? You know that’s wrong.”  
“I didn’t make him do it. C’mon, Ingrid. You know Felix is very capable of making his own decisions.” He impudently remarks with a soft laugh. As Sylvain says this, he regrets it. Ingrid has a look of disappointment.  
  
“Sylvain, you have to get better, please.” She’s pleading to him, her voice soft. This is a side of Ingrid he rarely sees, and he’s known her for so long.  
“I will. I promise.” His expression is sunken. He really doesn’t intend to be an overall shitty person, but eventually, that’s where his actions lead him. But to be honest, Sylvain doesn’t even believe himself when he says these words anymore. It’s as if Ingrid can tell because she doesn’t say another word to him. She leaves into the women’s lockers in a heartbreaking silence. Dammit! He’ll have to apologize to her properly tomorrow. She’s one of the few people out there he’d do it for. She was the one who’d help him, attempt to lead him the right way, and all he does is spit in her face. It feels awful. He’s frozen to the spot where he’d been left, minutes passing by.  
  
Eventually, Sylvain heads to the men's lockers with a somber tone to change back into his casual clothes. His stuff was next to Dimitri’s who was almost done getting ready. He just took his shirt off. It seems the blonde notices his injuries, especially the blooming of purple on his right shoulder. “I really am sorry, Sylvain...I had no idea I hit that hard. You have terrible bruises all over. Do you want me to take you to the Nurse or Professor Manuela to check them over later?”  
  
“C’mon man, don’t sweat it. I already told you it’s okay. This is nothing a little bed rest and ibuprofen won’t fix.” He playfully pushes at his arm. But thinking about it, seeing Manuela would help his Morale. She’s a beautiful woman. Dimitri’s voice detracts him from his distracting thoughts.  
“Alright, alright.” Dimitri laughs at Sylvain’s playfulness. “But please, try to come to practice more often, and on time. You are really good, but it’ll hurt us if you miss too much.”  
  
“I got it, Dimitri.” Sylvain waves his hand before he continues to finish getting ready, he looks at him. “Hey, is Felix still here?”  
  
“I believe so, yes. Want me to grab him really quick?” Dimitri looks like he’s about to turn away to get him on his own.  
  
“No, it’s fine. You just get ready and head back to the dorms, bro.” He heartily laughs, and appreciates his kindness. Dimitri really is a caring guy. It makes Sylvain look terrible on many occasions.  
  
“Alright. Well, I’ll see you around campus then. I hope you feel better.” The team captain grabs his things and heads out the locker room, and Sylvain says goodbye. Soon after, he sees Dedue trail after him as well. Those two really are glued together. He can’t quite wrap his head around it.  
  
Before thinking to put on a shirt, he rushes over to find Felix a few rows down. “Hey, Felix.” Felix turns toward him with his brows arched, probably wondering who in Sothis’ name could be looking to talk to him when most people have already left. He looks so different in his casual style. His hair is kept back with a black jaw hair clip, different from the simple hair tie he had during practice. He’s wearing a silver cross and chain earring on his left ear. On his right hand, he has a white skull ring near the knuckle and a simple black band lower on his index finger. He’s also wearing a black “SIAMÉS: Mr.Fear” t-shirt with a drawing of a girl in blue in the center, blue ripped jeans, and black Dr. Martens vintage boots. It’s no wonder he’s still in here. It probably took him forever to put all this shit back on. Sylvain is amused. It definitely looks good.  
  
Surprised, Felix remarks, “Oh, it’s you.” He looks over his body, spying the red and purple marks littered along his torso, and arms. It makes him snicker. “The boar got you bad huh? Byleth probably did it because she was mad you. You deserved it.”  
  
“I guess I did, didn’t I?” He puts his hands behind his head, which is usually a relaxed position for him. It hurts now because of the bruises. “I really am sorry, man. I kind of came over to ask if you wanted to get your meal today at Awakening and offer you a ride home since we’re roommates. ” Why does he feel so nervous about this. Felix isn’t a girl.  
  
“Give me a minute.” Felix turns away and adjusts something with his nose and out appears a black circular barbell with cones at the end, a septum piercing. Sylvain had no idea he had one, must have been new. It looks good on him, and it’s kind of….hot. He’s not sure if this is the word he really wants to think of. “I don’t need a ride home. I got a bike. I’m also busy tonight, but maybe we can do it tomorrow after work or something.” As soon as he says this, his phone rings with a little picture from discord on the screen. It’s probably Hubert, Claude, and Linhardt. Felix rolls his eyes and hangs up. “We can talk when I’m done back at the dorm.”  
  
“Oh yeah, uh, sure. No problem.” Sylvain feels a pang of rejection, odd. He knows it’s no big deal to put it off a day. He really wanted to hang out with him after today, catch up with him. Felix looks like he’s about to leave and Sylvain opens his mouth. “Wait, when’d you get that septum piercing?”  
  
“I got it a few months ago to piss off my dad a little. I really have to go, so don’t ask any more stupid questions. Later.” Felix exits the locker room with his gym bag in hand.  
  
Sylvain stands in the locker room alone, feeling empty. Part of him really wanted to have Felix in the car with him and they hang out, but he’s aware he has his own life. Maybe it’s the fact that Sylvain wasn’t a big part of it, is what hurt. He finally puts his white shirt on, seeing it has lipstick marks all over it. It makes him cringe and possibly feel more regret about today. He throws on his black bomber jacket and puts his silver ring earring on his left ear, blue jeans, and Cactus Jack Jordan’s. It’s 7:10 pm now, so he’s not sure what to do with the rest of the night. It’s best if he probably just goes home and goes to bed, maybe eat something at home. He throws his gym bag over his shoulder and exits the locker room. He walks to his car at a sluggish pace. He’s a model, a hotshot, athletic, intelligent, and extremely affluent. People would say he has it all, but a question lingers in the back of his mind. Why does he feel so isolated and so trapped?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When "With Mila's Divine Protection" is playing in the gym, I added it because I happened to be listening to the space jam mix of it while writing. Kinda thought, "Hey that'd work in a gym". So maybe next time you read, you can hear that in your head. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq5r-6GeRCs I also tried to make this chapter a little longer! I just wanted to see if people could get through the first one before I slaved over the fencing portion. Fencing's not the only thing I'm writing about for the first time...yikes lmao so feel free to critique


	3. Disengage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disengage: Avoiding blade contact while your opponent is actively seeking it through actions such as a Parry or a Beat.  
Felix and Sylvain pussyfoot around each other's feelings of regret over the state of their friendship and Sylvain wants to get things back on track. This won't create tension at all. haha (Felix and the gang also smoke some devils lettuce.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me like a year to update this gosh darn fic lmao. College started and I lost motivation and faith in my own work, but now I'm back on track! Hope this will be considered good food.

After answering Sylvain’s question about his piercing, Felix tries to leave as fast as possible. That idiot, coming to him with no shirt on, what the hell was he thinking? He has the body of Adonis. It’s unfair.  
  
He’s sure Sylvain knows it but doesn’t he know how that would affect other people, namely himself? He feels weird and he’s pissed off. He shouldn’t even be admiring his body in the first place.  
  
Sylvain was like an older brother to him in the past. Last he checked, a person doesn’t check out their older brother. He needs to smoke or vape for sure after a day like this.  
  
His phone rings again once he’s outside. It looks like a group call from Claude, Hubert, and Linhardt. Hanging out with them will get the stupid Sylvain shit off his mind.  
  
He picks up the call, and it’s Claude that greets first. “Hey grumpy, finally decided to pick up the phone?”  
  
“Shut up, fox.” Felix quickly spits at him. He really isn’t in the mood for this prick to start on his bullshit.  
  
“Ah ah ah, Felix. That’s not very nice.” Claude playfully chastises him, trying to hold back a laugh. After this, Felix decides to mute Claude for the rest of the call.  
  
Hubert coldly remarks. “He deserved it.”  
  
“Yeah, fucking annoying.” Felix gives an exasperated groan before asking, “Anyway, what are you calling for?”  
  
Linhardt responds to the question and says he called to see if they were still going to hang tonight, of course. Then, he asks Felix if he can do the snack run tonight since he did it last week. Shit. Thankfully Felix just got paid, so he can oblige. Linhardt asks for Funyuns and Mountain Dew for everyone to share, and Hubert asks for black licorice and Pepsi.  
  
He makes a mental note when Linhardt’s lethargic voice interrupts. “Claude asked to unmute him”  
  
“Fine. What do you want, asshole?” Felix sighs, knowing he’ll regret this decision.  
  
There’s a pause before Claude snickers before attempting a suggestive voice. “You-” Felix mutes him again as a response.  
  
“He said he’ll just share what you get and he’s sorry.” Linhardt is holding back a laugh.  
  
“Sorry, my ass.” Felix is obviously irked by Claude’s teasing.  
  
“Yeah. He’s not sorry. tbh he’s laughing.” Linhardt casually remarks, failing to hold back laughter.  
  
“Why do we invite him? He’s so obnoxious.” Hubert grumbles.  
  
“I think he’s funny” Linhardt replies, Felix pictures him shrugging on the other side of the phone.  
  
Felix can only snidely remark. “Right, he’s only funny when we’re high off our asses. So, I’ll get Funyuns for you, and Black Licorice for Hubert, getting Takis and Iced tea for myself. Don’t care if Claude likes them or not. That’s his problem. I’ll order 2 pizzas on the way and Claude can pick them up for being annoying.”  
  
“Sounds good to me, just make sure to be quick” Hubert chides.  
  
“Right, dad. Bye.”Felix rolls his eyes.  
  
He’s already tired. While he doesn’t really enjoy most people, he can stand Hubert and Linhardt quite well. They’re pretty quiet and laid back, and Hubert shares some of his sentiments on many things. Claude is laid back too but wears his patience trying to pester him. It’s quite irritating, but Felix guesses these are what he would call, “friends”.  
  
Thinking about friends, he feels a pang in his chest wondering what he would consider Sylvain. If anyone asked him right now, he’d say “he’s annoying and we only know each other because of our parents. If it were up to me, I’d have never met that careless pig. He's irresponsible and annoying.” Yet, deep down, Felix knows he misses being close to him like they were when they were kids...misses being a priority to him.  
  
Ever since his balls dropped, Sylvain drifted away, focusing on emptying them in whatever resembled a woman and moved. It was to be expected of him. He’s been a skirt chaser at a young age. Sylvain drifted even further away as he grew older, charming, and blindingly handsome.  
  
His father started treating him more like a doll, an asset to his brand and family name. It gave him a strict, and busy schedule. Any free time he had was used to escape to parties or dates with girls. Even so, Sylvain, that "careless pig", would always end up in Felix's space no matter how much he tried to deny him at that point.  
  
Felix tries to stop thinking about him and focus on getting the snacks instead. He puts on his helmet, places his gym bag in the back of the motorcycle in a basket, and rides to Anna’s corner store near campus. 

Sylvain drives home feeling as though his soul has left his body. He’s not positive if it’s because he got rejected by Felix, or he just had a long day. After greeting the RA, he trudges up to his door. Upon entering, he spies Ashe and Caspar about to go out somewhere. It’s like, almost 8 pm, wherein God’s name could they be going?  
  
He’s not trying to be an asshole, but they’re goodie two shoes, dorks, for the most part. Well, "most part" aside from Caspar getting himself into fistfights near constantly. “Hey Cas, Ashe. What are you guys doing?” Sylvain questions.  
  
The pair share unsure glances between one another before Ashe utters, “Well uh, it’s Friday so usually that’s when Felix and his friends come back and hang out so...” The silver-haired boy nervously fidgets about, looking as though he’s struggling to find words.  
  
Caspar cuts him off, running a hand through his teal undercut with an exasperated expression. “Look, I’m just gonna come out and say it. Most Friday nights, Felix comes home and does aromatherapy shit or gets high with Linhardt, Hubert, and sometimes Claude. They blast music, are loud as hell, and it usually smells like ass. So unless you wanna stay here for that, I’d get outta here while you still can.” With that, he turns to leave. Ashe quickly trails after him.  
  
He can hear Ashe calling after him down the hall. “Caspar, wait!” Leave it to Caspar to be brutally honest.  
  
“It can’t be that bad, can it?” Sylvain thinks, unsure what to do with himself now that he’s home. Usually, he’s on a date, at a girl’s house, at a party, or out doing fuck all in his free time.  
  
He never knew much about Felix’s private life since he was barely ever home. It makes him feel remorseful that he hadn’t been spending more time with him as of yet. He never really cared previously. Why did he have to be so selfish? He knew the answer to that, he just didn’t want to admit it to himself currently.  
  
Since he feels gross after practice, he decides to take another shower in the suite's bathroom and take a nap after.  
  
Felix’s door is next to his a little down the hall, and he looks at it with a crestfallen look. He really needs to wind down, forget about what happened today, and he’ll call Ingrid later to apologize.  
  
He enters his room with lethargy. It’s a standard dorm room, boring, with white walls. His bed is against the wall on the right, mini-fridge next to the bed, and a closet next to the door. There’s also a navy colored desk with a MacBook and a bookshelf full of DVD's with special popcorn containers sitting on top of it to the left, and a window in the back with simple white blinds. Sylvain has pictures of models, porn stars, and movie posters on the walls.  
  
Since he’s in school for acting, having the movies, posters, and other such collectibles inspire him. Sylvain’s room is always immaculate, due to hating messes. While he doesn’t bring girls home in part due to the hassle, it’s also because he doesn’t want them dirtying his room.  
  
The last thing he needs is girls leaving their things in his room. This need for cleanliness makes him unsure how he lives with someone like Caspar. It drives him up a wall how messy that guy is. Just remembering his messes stresses him out, the last thing he needs today. With a huff, he undresses and grabs a towel to shower.  
  
Meanwhile, Felix returns home at around 9 pm. It took longer than expected due to Ingrid giving a call to scold him for covering for Sylvain and other such rants. She’s like a big sister to them, but she will prattle your ear off if you fuck up.  
Quickly, he places all the food bags on the bar counter and keeps his gym stuff in the living room for now so they don’t smell like weed later. The snacks, however, he brings inside to his room.  
  
Felix’s room mirrors Sylvain’s. He has a bed against the wall and window towards the back of the room with black curtains. To give the room more life, Felix added a bunch of band posters to the wall and set up a small tv in the room too. Since he loves fencing, he has a shelf for all his old trophies and blades and some signed things from famous fencers.  
  
He’s also a music student, so on the wall opposite to his bed, he has a laptop set up on a black desk with a mic for small recording projects, a keyboard, guitar, foldable music stand, and other such things. He decided to become a music major, despite his father begging him to be a business major to take over his company. He decided he’s going to make his own brand from the ground up, not piggyback off of his father.  
  
Felix gets to work setting up. He unscrews the smoke detector and takes out the batteries, opens the curtains and window, sets up a fan to turn on, and an air filter. He also pulls out a spare sheet to put under the door. It doesn’t completely stop the smell of smoke, but it definitely lessens the effects.  
  
He puts out a few extra pillows on the floor at the foot of his bed in case someone wants to relax there. While Hubert usually stands or sits by the window, Felix usually ends up sandwiched between Linhardt and Claude on his bed in the end anyway. He sighs.  
  
As he’s getting ready, he wonders if Sylvain is home or in his room. There’s an urge to stop by and see if the other male is there. However, he thinks better of it. Sylvain’s the last person he really wants to see at the moment. This may or may not be due to being aware of possible attraction for his teammate and childhood friend.  
  
For now, he has to make sure everything is ready for later, so he focuses on that. Once he’s done, he sits in the living room to wait.  
  
It doesn’t take long before there’s knocking at the door and Claude’s voice beyond it. “Hey, Feline, can you be a doll and open the door? As much as I’d love to carry two pizza boxes all night, they're burning my hands.”  
  
"Be patient, dumb fox.” He retorts and strides over to the door, albeit slowly, to open it. He wants the fucker to suffer at least a little for his teasing.  
  
“Sure took your time huh?” Claude sarcastically remarks with a smile, inviting himself in. He puts the pizza on the kitchen bar and sits at one of the stools.  
  
Claude is a little shorter than average height, around the same as Felix, broad-shouldered and somewhat thick with muscle. He has brown hair that's slicked back in a messy pompadour, a strand of hair loose and thick sideburns. Despite being someone considered as distinguished, Claude doesn’t dress the part at all. But with how sly he is, you know he's a politician's son.  
  
He’s used to being very casual. He has a button-up shirt with a random, weird print, unbuttoned to the point where you can see his defined chest. He's also wearing some jeans with a braided belt, and some loafers. Lastly, Claude has a penchant for jewelry, wearing multiple chain necklaces, and random rings, with a long chain earring. Felix finds his style gaudy, even though he himself looks like he’s walked out of hot topic.  
  
“So should we all split for the pizza or what?” Felix sits on the couch with a bored expression and looks in Claude’s direction. He anticipates the asshole to try something funny.  
Of course, Claude never disappoints. “Well, now that you ask,” His voice is smooth, almost sultry, “You can pay me back with some kisses, kitty boy. C’mon, mmmm!” Claude puckers his lips, his signature mischievous grin on his face. He's trying to get a reaction out of him, no doubt.  
  
“No thanks, asshole.” Felix barely looks in his direction, checking his phone for Linhardt and Hubert’s messages.  
  
“You’re no fun to tease, you know that?” Claude’s frowns as though he's been hurt. He leans back and leisurely drapes his arm over the bar stool.  
  
“Sure, whatever. I’m not the dumb boar. Only he falls for those shitty tricks of yours.” Felix rolls his eyes.  
  
“Indeed he does.” Claude remarks with a smile, enjoying the thought of teasing his favorite subject. Felix simply waves him off in response. Claude manages to irritate him sober more often than not, he can’t wait to get high.  
  
There’s a knock on the door and Felix is greeted by Linhardt and Hubert. Linhardt calmly waves, “Yo, Felix” Linhardt is the sleepy sort, with somewhat feminine features. He’s about average height, and his body is rail-thin. His forest green hair is midlength, a portion of it tied in a bun and as always he’s wearing some stupid ironic meme t-shirt, a hoodie with sweat pants, and some Adidas slides. It’s easier for him to sleep in things like that.  
  
Appearing next to Linhardt is Hubert. “We’ve arrived.” He says with an odd expression. Most people who aren’t familiar with Hubert think he’s up to something dubious, but while cold and calculating, Hubert isn’t that evil at all.  
  
He has a black undercut with only one golden eye not hidden by hair. He’s pretty tall, has defined cheekbones, and looks like he’s stepped out of hot topic, but more suave and complex than Felix. He’s donning a black sweater with a white button-up collared shirt underneath with a simple silver necklace with a cross, some black gothic style pants with metal chains, and combat boots.  
  
Claude decides on his next victim to torment with teasing. His eyes slowly rake over Hubert’s outfit. “You sure you wanna wear that to smoke buddy?” He doesn't even attempt to hide his shit-eating grin to feign concern.  
  
“Oh my, I didn’t realize there was a moron's dress code here.” Hubert returns his smile, then glowers at him with a dry retort.  
"Now now, no need to get angry, Hubert. Just looking out for ya!" Whether the crafty bastard genuinely gave a shit or not is up for debate, but he clearly gave up trying to tease him.  
  
"Ouch, man. That was an inevitable upshot there, Claude." Linhardt looks up from his phone.  
  
Felix scoffs at the stupid fox getting his comeuppance. It's what he gets for being so provocative all the damn time. When it comes to Claude, it’s hard to tell what his real motives are in conversation. It’s what Felix admires but also fears about him. He knows better than to take any bait from that fox, even in small talk. He decides to finally usher everyone into his room.

After entering the room, everyone gets comfortable. They grind up the leafy clusters of mary jane, roll them into blunts, share a lighter, and sit back with their snacks and drinks.  
  
As predicted, Felix is begrudgingly "sandwiched between Linhardt and Claude" on the floor, leaning against the bed.  
  
Hubert stands by the window. He looks out into the night as he exhales a cloud of vapor.  
  
They laugh, talk about random shit, have ridiculous banter, and even try to play some video games.  
  
Eventually, things start to calm down and Claude, being perceptive, asks a question.  
  
“So kitty boy, what’s been going on with you? You looked pretty prickly before taking a hit.”  
  
“Yeah...Actually, what's up with that?” Linhardt sucks on his blunt, and looks towards Felix.  
  
Hubert moves his attention towards Felix too, but instead of a blunt, he decided to vape instead. “I’m quite used to you being on edge, but not this much. Even I’m curious.”  
  
“Well...aren’t you all observant. I’ve been feeling weird all fuckin day if you wanna know so bad.” Felix remarks after exhaling a cloud of smoke, his brows furrowed.  
  
“Oh really? Do tell.” Claude gets a glint in his eye. He may not be able to get information out of Felix when sober, but he strikes gold when he’s high sometimes.  
  
“I can’t explain it, idiot. It’s like...I dunno.” His cheeks are getting red.  
  
This reaction is quite interesting to Claude, cute even, so he tries to dig deeper. “Like what?”  
  
There’s a pause and a frown from Felix. “I keep thinking about someone...Fuck if I know. I really shouldn’t be telling you of all people this.”  
  
“Interesting. I dunno what you could possibly mean, Felix.” Claude is cursing him inside of his head. It looks like Felix still has a good head on his shoulders, damn. He was about to get to something juicy! Maybe next time, he supposes.  
  
“You really think I don’t know? There’s a reason I call you a fox.” Felix drawls. He may be higher than a kite, but he has enough sense to know that anything he says here will be put into Claude’s back pocket for later reference.  
  
“Right, right. If you asked me, I’d say I’m more of a deer.” He makes his hands look like a deer’s antlers on either side of his head.  
  
It’s probably because he’s high, but Felix gives a hearty laugh. “Pffff haha! Yeah right, stupid.”

Sylvain regrets being home. He could see why Caspar and Ashe hightailed it out of the dorms. There’s a mix of smells, but the strongest is one of a skunk. The music is loud, and the talking doesn’t make it any better. This is probably what hell feels like, Sylvain guesses.  
  
He hears something... A laugh? Felix’s. It’s been quite some time since he’s heard him laugh, especially like that. The fact it isn’t him making Felix laugh like that hurts.  
  
He shouldn’t even care. It’s been his decision to neglect his own friend for what may have been years now. But when it’s right in front of him, he understands the consequences of his actions the most.  
  
Sylvain has always been someone to care for his friends when they really need him, but he realizes how selfish he’s been to Felix, Dimitri, Ingrid, and all of Blue Lions just because of things he wanted. Although they’ve been living together since last year, it’s only now he realizes how much he misses Felix.  
  
There’s a rift in their relationship, and he’s sure he caused it. They were so close as children, but now they’re acquaintances at best. It feels so wrong. He has to do something about it. For now, he makes his way to the fridge to find something to drink, probably a beer.  
  
Hours pass after, and at around midnight, the party is finally over. However, Sylvain has gone through more than one beer at this point. That's unusual for him while being home. At least they're done smoking and hanging out. He can stop feeling envious and ashamed of himself.  
  
First, Hubert exits the room, saying a simple goodbye to Felix. He doesn’t even acknowledge Sylvain even exists, which is fair. His eyes shift with a look that is definitely disgusted, silently judging him. Hubert definitely isn’t the type to even want to associate with him, let alone have a conversation.  
  
Linhardt trails out after Hubert, waving to Sylvain with a simple. “Hey man, tell Caspar I said hi.” He lazily follows behind Hubert out the door of the suite.  
  
Claude is the last person to leave Felix’s room and he seems surprised to see Sylvain, especially in such a lifeless state. He’s used to seeing him animated, out and about. He’s witnessed him being down, but not like this, and not too often.  
  
Sylvain’s not much of a homebody, so he’s curious, if not sympathetic. “Yo Sylv, you okay? You look like you just crawled out of hell.” Claude says, playfully smug. There’s a look in his eyes that Sylvain can’t quite read, and it makes him nervous since he was the last one out of Felix’s room.  
  
“Yeah Claude, I’m alright, just a little tired.” Sylvain leans his head against a hand.  
  
“Yikes, you’re more than a little tired. Let’s go clubbing to take some of that edge off. ” Claude chuckles in reply.  
  
“Sure man.” Sylvain meekly smiles.  
  
“Great. I gotta go but I’ll hook you up with details later. See ya later, Mama’s boy!” Claude makes a wave and exits the suite, a smirk curling on his lips.  
  
Thinking back on Felix’s odd behavior earlier and Sylvain’s out of character melancholy, the shrewd man draws an interesting conclusion.“Oh, I think I get it now.” He quickly decides this is something he’ll keep his eyes on.  
  
Caspar and Ashe come home at around 1 am and greet Sylvain. There’s a knowing look on their faces as Sylvain is hunched over the counter with alcohol.  
  
Ashe, being the kind soul he is, rushes over to Sylvain after seeing his disheveled state. “Are you alright? You look like something is troubling you.”  
  
“Yeah, Ashe. I’m fine. Just a little drunk and tired, haha.” He attempts to smile, but he just doesn’t have it in him after tonight.  
  
Caspar closes the door and leans against it. “I told you not to stay when Felix and his friends get crazy, dude. Can’t tell me I didn’t warn ya. That’s your own fault.” He shrugs.  
  
Ashe turns back, giving a scolding look towards his spiky blue-haired partner.“Caspar!”  
  
“What? I was just saying, no need to get all pissy.” He waves his hands in front of himself in defense.  
  
“It’s ok, Ashe, really” Sylvain laughs.  
  
“If you say so, Sylvain. I’m here to talk if you need it.” He isn’t convinced Sylvain is okay, but he won’t press either.  
  
Ashe is such a sweet person. His appearance suits his pure demeanor. He has large mint-colored eyes and adorable freckles that dust his nose and cheeks. His medium-length, straight hair looks almost silver in the light. Sometimes, he wears colored hair clips to keep the side that isn’t combed back out of his face, which is beyond endearing.  
  
Sylvain considers himself straight, but Ashe is so small, thin, and feminine. He supposes if he were to try out a guy, he could get behind that. But, he knows better than to hit on Ashe, lest Caspar beat him to death.  
  
Based on their looks, you wouldn’t think Ashe would associate with a guy like Caspar. He’s lean with broad shoulders, muscular, and loves a good fight. He contrasts even himself in appearance. You’d think Caspar was an absolute CHAD until he opens his mouth and a somewhat squeaky voice comes out.  
Caspar’s actually an awkward, honest, and straightforward type of person. Nobody can reign him in. The person closest to doing so is Ashe. However, even he has a hard time, given how many times he lectures him about leaving his dirty clothes in his room.  
  
Ashe heads to his room, but Caspar stays with Sylvain.  
  
“I’m uh, sorry if I said stuff that wasn’t cool earlier.” Caspar scratches his hair and looks as if he’s embarrassed.  
  
“You’re really worried about that? It’s no big deal to me.” Sylvain almost wants to laugh. Caspar resembles a kid quite closely in his behavior. “Anyway, why aren’t you going to bed with Ashe?”  
  
“Felix usually gives me the rest of his munchie pizza to eat.” Caspar has a grin of pure excitement.  
  
“You’re cool with eating that?” Sylvain quirks a brow in question.  
  
“Hell yeah, I am! Free pizza is free pizza. Only an idiot would turn that down! Plus, I have a stomach of steel. I can handle it.” He exclaims, patting his stomach with fervor.  
  
Sylvain doesn’t really get this concept at all, unfortunately. It’s amusing to watch someone get so worked up over stoner pizza nonetheless. Nobody beats Ingrid or Raphael’s excitement for food, though. Those two will eat just about anything.  
  
Thinking about Ingrid, he hopes she received his voice mail since she didn’t pick up the phone earlier when he called to apologize. It was probably because she was really disappointed in him for his stunt today. He feels extremely guilty. Sylvain is drawn out of his pity party when he hears shuffling in Felix’s room, assuming he’s cleaning up.  
  
The door creaks open and Felix has a box of pizza in hand, placing it on the table. “Here you go, kiddo. All yours.”  
  
“Hell Yes!” Caspar pumps his fists. “Thanks, dude!” Caspar all but runs to Ashe’s room with the box. Even after closing the door, the two can hear him bark. “Hey Ashe, I got pizza!”  
  
“He’s so loud and excitable…” Felix scowls at the man’s animation. His high is definitely wearing off.  
  
“Yeah, but that’s just how Caspar is. It’d be weird any other way.” Sylvain chortles at both Caspar and Felix’s reaction.  
  
“You’re right about that. I'm surprised you're here. It's rare to see you home." Felix questions as he goes to throw some empty chip bags away.  
  
“Hey, I’m capable of getting bored or just wanting to relax. I was just tired after today and wanted to talk to you. Wanna make plans about the meal?” Sylvain laughs softly  
  
They agree to eat together at Awakening after Felix’s shift at the coffee shop tomorrow. Sylvain hopes he can make up for lost time. Felix’s voice distracts him from his internal fretting.  
  
“You really do owe me it after today. Ingrid called me to yell at me. I hope you apologized.” Felix gives him a somewhat stern look.  
  
“I did, but she didn’t answer.” Sylvain sullenly replies.  
“It’s probably because she’s pissed at you. Get your shit together. I won't cover for you again.” Felix crosses his arms and leans on the counter next to him.  
  
“I know. I feel really guilty.” Sylvain looks down at the countertop, hoping that Ingrid will forgive him. He definitely feels regret for his actions today.  
  
“You'd better. This feels a lot like when we were kids though, you acting like an idiot.” Felix snorts and gives a smile, probably because he's still a little blazed.  
  
“Yeah,” Sylvain says lazily and stares up at Felix’s smiling face. It’s a rare occurrence. Maybe it’s from the buzz of the alcohol, but he thinks it’s probably the cutest in the world. Wait...what? He was sure it was fine to think this way when they were children, but right now this feels weird… It’s gotta be the alcohol.  
  
Sylvain's still lost and confused in his mind as Felix arches a brow at him and speaks. “You should go to bed manwhore. You’re totally out of it.”  
  
“Huh? Haha yeah, guess you’re right. Night, Felix. ” Sylvain tries to laugh off his bashfulness as he quickly darts off to his room for the night.  
  
Felix watches him with a look of confusion. He may be coming down from his high, but that doesn’t mean he can’t tell Sylvain is acting odd.  
  
As Sylvain goes to bed, he thinks about the Felix that relied on him and trailed behind him as a child, the Felix that would tug onto him crying that Dimitri was being unfair during a brawl. Why does he miss that so much right now? Why does he miss him even though he's right here? He can't quite comprehend it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so uh, hopefully chapter 4 will be up soon! if not, i have also kinda thought of writing a danganronpa crackship fic with kokichi and fuyuhiko in high school au lol so if any of y'all wanna read that.


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